


You keep using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means

by KuraKaw



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Based on Real Events, Crack, Fluff, M/M, Pillow Talk, Sam Wilson Cameo, and knows not what he says, peter parker is a wee innocent bean, sorta - Freeform, tony doesn't want anyone to know about his smooshy marshmallow insides, tony is smitten by his big octopus bf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27594566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuraKaw/pseuds/KuraKaw
Summary: Peter hears some pillow talk between Bucky and Tony. Turns out the phrase "pillow talk" doesn't mean what he thinks it does. That doesn't mean there isn't actual pillow talk.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 200





	You keep using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. One of my roommate's friends doesn't know what pillow talk means and described a guy and his friend having "soft and wholesome" conversation in the kitchen late at night as pillow talk. Cue me writing this at 3 AM instead of any of my WIPs OR my assignment due tonight...
> 
> Thanks to ralsbecket for beta-ing my 500 verb tense errors resulting from writing this whole thing after 1 AM. You're the real MVP.

Peter is down the hall from the kitchen, looking for Mr. Stark and coffee (and not necessarily in that order) when he starts to make out Mr. Stark’s voice. He was speaking softly, just barely a whisper, and Peter doubts a normal human would have been able to hear him at all. With a yawn, Peter continues his shuffle towards the kitchen. Maybe Mr. Stark’s already started some coffee.

He is almost to the doorway when he hears a whimper and freezes. From here, he could make out actual words.

“It’s alright, Buck. You’re here. You’re safe. I got you.”

Peter pokes his head around the corner. Mr. Stark is crouching in front of Sergeant Barnes, who has his head in his hands, and running his fingers through the other man’s hair. With a silent sigh, he turns and shuffles back to the elevator. He doesn’t want to interrupt their moment, as soft as they’re being with each other. Seeing Mr. Stark and getting coffee can wait. He should probably go to sleep anyways; it’s already 3 A.M.

Peter’s half-way down the hall when he hears Mr. Stark speak again.

“C’mere, big guy,” he says, followed by some shuffling, a soft grunt, and two sighs. Peter can definitely wait until morning.

* * *

Tony hadn’t expected Bucky to be so heavy. He really should have, considering the man has a metal arm, but he hadn’t. That being said, he wouldn’t trade his current lap-full of super-soldier for the world. Bucky sighs again and nuzzles into the spot where his neck meets his shoulder, and Tony presses a kiss to the top of his head.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey, no. None of that. If one of us is going to be sorry, it should be me. I asked you to stay with me.”

“I shouldn’t have agreed. I should know better by now.” He presses his face into Tony’s neck even more, almost as if he’s trying to sink into his skin.

Tony shakes his head. “I’m still glad you stayed.” Bucky turns to cast him a rather dubious look. “I am. I’m glad I was able to be there for you. I wouldn’t want you to be alone right now.”

Bucky sits up to glare at him, although it comes off as more of a pouty kitten look than anything. Tony is hopelessly smitten with this man. “I could have hurt you.”

“But you didn’t,” Tony says, booping him on the nose. The crease between Bucky’s eyebrows deepens. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the strongest counter. But really, all things considered, that was nothing. Hell, Tony had done worse. “Have I ever told you about the time that I called the suit in my sleep and it went after Pepper?” Bucky still looks concerned, but a little less guilty and sulky. “Yeah. That happened. Not my brightest moment, but point being, you didn’t hurt me. You didn’t even try. I trust you.”

Bucky is frowning again. “You are a terrible judge of character.”

Tony huffs, “Well, yes, but Rhodey is not, and he trusts you too.” 

Bucky sighs and lays his head back on Tony’s shoulder, nuzzling his collar bone. “Rhodes threatened to bury me in a shallow grave if I hurt you.”

Tony didn’t know that. Unsurprising, but still. “You should have heard the threats he gave some of my exes. That means he likes you.” Sometimes Rhodey’s imagination scared Tony.

Bucky sighs again. “Idiot.”

* * *

Peter is jabbering away, talking a mile a minute. Sam likes the kid, he really does, but holy crap does he talk fast. He bounces from subject to subject faster than Sam can follow, but a few words snag his attention.

“Hold up. Bucky and Tony. Pillow talk. When did  _ that _ happen?”

“Oh! Yeah, the two of them were in the kitchen the other night at, like, 3 A.M. I was looking for Mr. Stark, but it seemed like they were having a moment, and I didn’t really want to intrude, so I left them to it. It was late anyway, and I didn’t have anything that couldn’t wait.”

Sam didn’t know the two of them were together. He hasn’t heard anything, not from Steve, not from Bucky, not from Natasha. Though Natasha isn’t surprising; she likes to keep her secrets close to her chest. Bucky’s silence isn’t very surprising either; he still wasn’t very verbal. But Steve, Steve tells Sam almost everything. Sometimes a little more than he would like to know. Which probably means that Steve doesn’t know either… 

But still, the kid sticks to Stark like glue. The only person who spends more time with Stark would have to be Rhodey, and he had been away on back-to-back missions for the last month or so. Out of the Avengers in the tower, Peter probably knew Tony best, so if he said Bucky and Tony were together, Sam would have to take his word for it.

One other thing was bothering Sam… 

“Wait, in the  _ kitchen _ ?”

* * *

Bucky and Tony haven’t told the rest of the team about their relationship yet. It isn’t that they thought they would react badly, but it was such a new thing, and frankly, it isn’t really their business. 

Tony is actually kind of enjoying the privacy; it isn’t something that he gets often, living under a spotlight. Half the people he has dated in the past had been with him specifically for that spotlight. He liked the intimacy for just him and Bucky, not for anyone else.

They aren’t trying to keep a secret; if one of their teammates walks up and asks, they would answer honestly, but they aren’t broadcasting it either. It’s just there.

Tony turns his head and presses a kiss to Bucky’s throat from where he’s laying on top of his boyfriend. This isn’t for anyone but them, and it’s theirs to do with as they please… 

And Alpine, who is currently at the top of their little pile, resting on Tony’s back. Alpine is enjoying having another human around. 

Just as Tony finishes that thought, FRIDAY chimes in from the ceiling, “Captain Rogers is requesting to speak with you.”

Tony sighs and pushes up slowly, giving Alpine plenty of time to jump down. “I guess that’s my cue. I’ll go-”   
  
“Actually, he wishes to speak with both of you.”

“O-kay?” Tony sits down in the spot Bucky’s legs just vacated and looks at him, but Bucky looks just as confused as Tony feels.

Bucky looks to Tony for approval before nodding to FRIDAY and saying, “Let him in then.”

* * *

Hearing Steve mention his and Bucky’s pillow talk had made Tony blush halfway down his neck. His ears are probably still red. Even worse, apparently the information had come from Peter. People call Tony shameless, and he had believed them but apparently even he drew the line at a national icon knowing  _ intimate knowledge  _ about his relationships.

He is just hoping Peter hadn’t told anyone too many details. Bucky never said much, mostly turning into a snuggle octopus, but Tony had a tendency to get a bit slap-happy in the post-coital haze and admit all sorts of dumb things. He can still remember the look on Bucky’s face when Tony admitted he loved him while floating on a cloud of orgasm-induced dopamine. Sure, he had known for a while, but he had fully intended to keep that information to himself. Fortunately, Bucky had reciprocated. God, that would have been awkward if he didn’t.

Peter should be around here somewhere. He had told Tony that he would be in the lab today for actual internship stuff.

Tony finds him in the hallway on the fabrication floor with a stack of blueprints in his arms. He barely gets out a “Hi, Mr. Stark” before Tony grabs him by the hood and spins him around, shuffling him off into a lab.

“Pete. Kid. Why are you telling the team about me and Bucky’s pillow talk?” Tony asks, feeling the blush start to spread down his face again. This is not a conversation he was planning to have today.

“Wha- I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. I didn’t know it was a problem.”

Tony sighs. If he weren’t so used to breaches of privacy, he would probably be quite a bit more upset about this. “It is definitely a problem. Pete, that’s a pretty severe violation of my privacy and trust, and frankly, I’m a little disappointed in you. That was private, and you shouldn’t have listened in, much less told the rest of the team about it.”

Peter looks genuinely upset about Tony being disappointed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t tell anyone details or try to listen in. I was looking for you, and you were in the kitchen, and I overheard a bit of it. I wasn’t trying to spy on you or anything…” 

Tony is officially lost. “The  _ kitchen _ ? We haven’t fucked in the kitchen?”

Now Peter is starting to turn red. Very red. Vaguely tomato-ish in fact. “Who said anything about f-fucking? I didn’t say anything about that. I just thought it was really nice how gentle you two are with each other! I mean, you’re just friends, right?”

Tony slowly comes to a realization. It  _ couldn’t  _ be. The kid was seventeen, for Christ’s sake; he should at least be familiar with what the word means, even if he doesn’t have any experience with it. Especially if he’s using it, right? 

“Do you know what the phrase ‘pillow talk’ means?” Peter looks at Tony blankly. “Peter, do you know what it  _ means _ ?”

“Of course I do! It’s soft, wholesome conversation!” Tony sighs and wipes a hand down his face. Peter starts to look a little less confident. “Right?”

Tony wants to melt into the floor and become one with it. “No. It very much does not.” Tony fights the urge to lay down on the floor. What god has he angered to deserve this?

Peter pulls out his phone and starts typing. He starts reading. He starts turning red. Well past tomato, inching towards beet.

“ _ Oh my god. _ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Like it? No? Too bad.
> 
> I'm on tumblr @kurakaw (i still don't know how to link things *sad kazoo sounds*)
> 
> I also have a couple auctions going on WTF(@what2finish on tumblr *more sad kazoo*), a fandom charity event, so give it a looky loo!
> 
> I'm still sleep deprived. Don't judge me.


End file.
